Danica McKellar has a message for young girls

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Danica McKellar, star of Lifetime Movie Channel’s Inspector Mom has a message for the likes of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan that “being smart is being cool.”

“When girls see the antics [of these two,] they think that being fun and glamorous also means being dumb and irresponsible,” McKellar said. McKellar wants to bring that message to young women everywhere including Hilton and Lohan.

The 32-year-old actress knows what she is talking about. She graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with a major in mathematics in 1998 and is coming out with a book, ‘Math Doesn’t Suck: How to survive middle school math without losing your mind or breaking a nail’, to encourage girls to get into math.

McKellar decided to dive into the formidable subject after struggling with math when she was in middle school, but a teacher helped her out. McKellar also co-authored a scientific paper with professor Lincoln Chayes and fellow student Brandy Winn, which proves a theorem in mathematical physics while a student at UCLA. She also tutors math for free, for her fans, on her Website.

As if she hasn’t already done enough, McKellar also would like to work on the spiritual side. She has a DVD out on Yoga and Meditation.

The actress is best known as the character Winnie Cooper in the television show “The Wonder Years” with Fred Savage. The show ran from Jan. 1988 to May 1993. In one episode, Savage’s character Kevin Arnold kisses Winnie (McKellar) marking forever the memory of a first kiss for both of them.

Danica McKellar was a regular on the West Wing, playing the character Elsie Snuffin, the sister and assistant of Deputy White House Communications Director Will Bailey. She has also appeared in the show NCIS, Babylon 5 and was the voice of Patty, the sad-eyed orphan in the animated ‘The Super Mario Bros. Super Show.’